Employment Relations Act 2018

February 13, 2019

The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018 has introduced employment law changes.

Key changes include:

• reinstating prescribed meal and rest breaks
• strengthening collective bargaining and union rights
• restoring protections for vulnerable workers, such as those in the cleaning and catering industries, regardless of the size of their employer
• limiting 90-day trials to business with fewer than 20 employees.

The first changes took effect on 12 December 2018. The second set of changes comes into effect on 6 May 2019.

To avoid breaching employment law all employers should familiarise themselves with the changes.  Breaches of employment law can lead to fines up to $50,000 for an individual, the greater of $100,000 or three times the amount of the financial gain made by the body corporate from the breach.

You can read more about the changes here.

* Article courtesy of the IRD.